Rick Weddle
President and CEO, Research Triangle Foundation
Rick Weddle is President and CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina, owner and developer of The Research Triangle Park. The renowned Research Triangle Park was established in 1959 and is the largest high-technology park development in North America, covering 7,000 total acres. Mr. Weddle was tapped to lead the Research Triangle Foundation in July 2004. In addition to overseeing Park operations and development, Mr. Weddle is setting the strategic direction for the Park’s next 50 years. In the past three years, the Park has far surpassed its historic performance, generating development projects with projected capital investment of over $800 million and projected creation of over 6,300 new, high quality jobs.
Mr. Weddle’s career encompasses over twenty-five years of successful leadership and organizational change management. Previously, he led regional economic development organizations in four different states, including the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the Toledo, Ohio Regional Growth Partnership, the San Joaquin Partnership & Business Council in Stockton, California and Winston-Salem Business Inc in North Carolina. During his tenure, these organizations created a combined total of 32,000 new jobs and invested over $3.4 billion in their regions.
An active speaker and leader in numerous economic development and science park organizations, Mr. Weddle was elected as the first Chairman of the Board of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in 2002. Currently, Mr. Weddle serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). In addition, he has served on numerous gubernatorially appointed task forces and working committees, including the Arizona Partnership for the New Economy (2000-2001) and the Ohio Economic Development Advisory Committee (1996). Mr. Weddle has also been an instructor since 1986 at the Economic Development Institute, an extension of the University of Oklahoma